Lemprière's Dictionary

Lemprière's Dictionary is a novel written by Lawrence Norfolk. Released in 1991, it is Norfolk's debut novel and tells the fantastical story of how John Lemprière wrote his dictionary of mythology.

Characters[]

John Lemprière - the main character of the novel, a classical scholar whose family has ties to the Cabbala (something that John is largely unaware of). Throughout the novel, John wears glasses.
Nazim-ud-Dowlah - a man with ties with the Nawab of the Carnatic who follows John and Le Mara around
Septimus Praeceps - a lawyer representing the Earl of Braith who befriends John and effectively becomes his manager/editor while writing
Viscount Casterleigh - a figure at the center of the Cabbala and the Nine and the "adoptive father" of Juliette.
Juliette Casterleigh - The daughter of Jaques whom the Viscount "adopts" and uses as a pawn
The Nawab of the Carnatic - a major mover-and-shaker who uses Nazim to hunt after the Nine
Jaques - a man with ties to Charles and the Cabbala/the Nine
Mizzer Le Mara - an assassin with ties to the Nine
Boffe - a member of the Nine
Vaucanson - a member of the Nine and an extremely adept inventor/machinist. Presumably, Vaucanson is supposed to be related to the real Jacques de Vaucanson
Edmund de Vere, the Twelfth Earl of Braith - a member of the Pork Club whose family has ties to the East India Company and the Lemprières
Captain Ebeneezer Guardian - a retired captain with ties to John's father
Lady Alice de Vere - the mother of Edmund de Vere
The Widow Neagle - the widow of a sea captain presumably killed by the Cabbala
Theobald Peppard - George Peppard's estranged brother and an archivist for the Company
George Peppard - a clerk working at the firm of Chadwik, Skewer, and Soames
Karin - a woman with ties to Rosalie and the Pork Club. She is watched over by Nazim as she loses her mind.
Rosalie - Juliette's doppleganger
Bet - a woman with ties to the Pork Club. Killed by the Cabbala by having molten gold poured down her throat.
Ernst Kalkbrenner - a "doctor of the mind"
Elmore Clementi - a "doctor of the mind"
Ewen Skewer - a lawyer working at the firm of Chadwik, Skewer, and Soames
Charles Lemprière - John's father, seemingly tied into a mysterious conspiracy with ties to the Casterleighs
Father Calveston - the local priest in Jersey and an inventor
The Cardinal - a mysterious figure with ties to the Conseil aux Conseils and the future French Revolution
Duluc - a member of the Conseil aux Conseils with ties to the Cardinal
Protagoras - a member of the Conseil aux Conseils with ties to the Cardinal
Coker - a criminal employed by Le Mara
Ichnabod Bonamy - a glassmaker and inventor who constructs John's first pair of glasses
Marianne Lemprière - John's mother
Mister Orbilius Quint - John's former teacher in classicism, an obsequious scholar with whom John frequently quarrelled
Wilfred Fiedler - one of John's old schoolmates
Mister Tom Cadell - a bookseller
Sir John Fielding - used as a representation of the established order
Farina - a rabble-rouser and revolutionary
Zamorin - the leader of the Cabbala
Walter Warburton-Burleigh - a member of the Pork Club
The Pug - a member of the Pork Club
Captain Roy - a legless captain
Halil Hamit - the captain of the Tesrifati
Peter Rathkael-Herbert - the Imperial Internuncio to the Sublime Porte
Wilberforce van Clam - a member of the Pantisocratic Pirates
Ledwitch, Linebarger, and Chegwyn - thre professors with ties to the Widow Neagle
Marmaduke Stalkart - the proprietor of the failing Haymarket Opera House
Mister Stone - a man who supplies John with paper
The Crone - an old woman with ties to the Pork Club
The tailor - a man whom Septimus hires to secretly make copies of John's dictionary
Francis Battalia, the Stone-Eater - a performer who eats stones for an audience
Jeremy Trindle of the Porson Trindles - a man who supplies John with source books
Mister O'Tristero - a "rival" for John. His name is possibly a reference to Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.

Publisher's summary[]

Lemprière's Dictionary cover — Harmony Books hardback reprint

An international best-seller and winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize, Lempriere's Dictionary is the debut novel from Lawrence Norfolk, one of England's most innovative, internationally acclaimed young authors.

In eighteenth-century London, John Lempriere works feverishly on a celebrated dictionary of classical mythology that bears his name. He discovers a conspiracy against his family dating back 150 years. Told with the narrative drive of a political thriller and a Dickensian panorama of place and time, this astonishing tale encompasses the Great Voyages of Discovery, multinational financial conspiracies, and a motley cast of scholars and eccentrics, drunken aristocrats, whores and assassins, and octogenarian pirates, all brilliantly depicted across three continents and the world of classical mythology.

Plot[]

Caesarea[]

On the island of Jersey (specifically in Rozel, a village in the Bouley Bay area) around the beginning of the 18th century, a young man named John Lemprière lives with his parents. John is nearsighted and frequently has visions of figures from the classics (such as Polyphemus and Scipio Africanus). Realizing that their son desperately needs help with his eyesight, his parents agree to have eyeglasses made for him. Due to this, John (along with his father Charles) visit the nearby town of Saint Hellier and visit the glassmaker Ichnabod Bonamy. While his father steps out to run some errands, Ichnabod begins constructing the glasses. Placing John into a machine he has constructed that lets Ichnabod test various lenses on him, Ichnabod cycles through the lenses before choosing the perfect ones. He then forges the new glasses and puts them over John's eyes. While his eyes adjust to the glasses, John has a vision of a malign face staring at him from Ichnabod's furnace.

Once his eyes adjust to his glasses, John (who is twenty-two years old) is said to enter into a second childhood - running and jumping around with exuberance. While at church, John notices a young woman named Juliette Casterleigh and becomes infatuated with her. After Father Calveston finishes his sermon on the "inward foe", John is attacked by several bullies who are fended off by Juliette. On returning home, John finds that his father is in an oddly happy mood. That night, after John reads from Propertius and remembers his school days, he has a terrifying vision of a figure standing over his bed.

The next day, John visits Father Calveston intending on having the field near his house exorcised. Calveston (wishing to test out a potato masher that he has invented) refuses and shoos the classicist away. While walking outside of Calveston's cottage, John decides to climb a tree but falls out. He is found by Juliette and invited to visit the Casterleigh's library. After leaving John, Juliette visits Calveston (who is completely naked and mid-slathering himself in mashed potato) and asks him to do a favor. On returning home, John finds his father at work (unbeknownst to him, in an investigation of an unusual incident involving "Company ships" and a man named Phillips). Meanwhile, Juliette returns to her home and is asked by her father about "the boy".

The next day, John visits the library to write up a catalogue of classical books for the Casterleighs to buy. Also present is his former classics teacher, Quint. The two debate/argue over which books to buy for several hours before John defeats his former teacher. As a reward for making the catalogue, the Casterleighs give John a book of Ovid's poems. John finds that the volume is in immaculate condition - though there are a few oddities. The symbol of a cracked circle is printed on its frontispiece and a large illustration of Actaeon's demise is provided, though not listed in its index.

The next day, John's mother kicks him and his father out of the house so she can clean the house. Charles intends on visiting a friend and cuts through a field. While walking through the field, he hears a pack of hounds used by Viscount Casterleigh in the distance and finds Juliette bathing in a waterfall. While watching her, he is joined by his son. While both watch the woman, only Charles notices an unusual birthmark - the same broken circle that is on the edition of Ovid's poems that the Casterleighs gifted his son. Charles realizes that the "faceless, patient adversaries" of he and his family have finally ensnared him and his son right before he is torn to pieces by the Viscount's hounds.

London[]

Several months after his father's death, John travels to London. Once in London, he tries to reach his boarding-house on Southampton Street using a map of London based around the river Thames. This leads to him asking passing strangers how to find "the river" and finding little help until he literally bumps into a stranger who informs him that he is on Southampton Street. Once in his boarding house, John receives a series of papers and a letter from his dad which tells his son to not look into his death and burn the chest. As John contemplates the letter, a group known as the Cabbala gather underneath London and begin to discuss a few recent arrivals to London. This includes John, alongside an agent of a figure known as the Nawab and "the girl".

Around the same time that John arrives in London, a ship known as the Nottingham pulls into the Upper Wet Docks. One of its crew members - a man named Nazim with ties to the Nawab of the Carnatic - watches as another ship (presumably the Vendragon) follows them. While at the Ratcliffe barracks, Nazim remembers his first encounter with the Nawab. As a twelve-year-old, his uncle (the personal assassin of the Nawab) brought him to the Nawab's palace. The next day, Nazim leaves the barracks and travels through the streets of London. During his wanderings, he is found by a gang of pickpockets who begin to chant "Black bird! Black bird!" after Nazim stops one of them from rifling through his pockets. To keep attention away from himself, Nazim attacks one of them before fleeing.

The next day, John finds a figure clad entirely in black outside of his door. At first, he assumes the figure to be an attacker and takes out a firebrand to defend himself. Before John can attack the figure, it reveals itself to be a representative of the firm of Chadwick, Skewer, and Soames named Septimus Praeceps. John accompanies Septimus to the firm for the reading of his father's will. During the reading (done by Ewen Skewer, who has taken over for Charles' lawyer as he had passed away before John began his voyage to London), a document linking one of John's distant ancestors (and a member of the de Vere family) to the then-recently formed East India Company. It is here that Septimus reveals himself to be an agent of the de Veres and briefly tries to buy the document for the de Vere family's archives but stops after John tells him that the document is not for sale. Shortly after this, a signet ring with the broken-circle symbol is revealed - which Skewer and Septimus seemingly know little about. John takes the ring and ends the reading. After the reading, John meets up with Septimus and tries to grill him about the de Vere's ties to his own family. Septimus reveals little and tries to leave and cut ties with John. He is stopped by John and the two agree to become allies. Septimus tells his new friend that the true brain of Skewer's firm is his clerk. He also tells John to host a meeting with him and the Earl of Braith before leaving.

While trying to imagine building a ship, one Captain Guardian feels something extremely wrong and finds the Vendragon lurking nearby his house. Nazim soon finds the Vendragon and surveils it and a mysterious "thin man" who is also watching over the Vendragon.

While walking through the streets of London, Peppard notices a figure following him. Peppard flees but is caught by the figure in a dead alley. Though Peppard assumes that the figure is part of a mysterious group (presumably the East India Company) but it is revealed to be John. After following Peppard through the streets of London, John has Peppard look through the document made by his ancestor and the de Veres. According to Peppard, the document is purposefully vague but could serve as a great threat to the de Veres (at least when it was first signed) due to the Lemprière family being French. Though this answers some of his questions, John is still left with several burning questions and contemplates them while walking back to his boarding-house.

The next day, Septimus brings John to the "Pork Club". While at the Club, John meets the Earl of Braith and tries to ask him about the document. Unfortunately, the Earl is too drunk to even understand what John is asking him. Shortly after this, Septimus reveals that he bet all of John's money in a game held by the Club. As such, the two take part in the game. In the first part of this game, John and Septimus play a rudimentary game of beer pong. In the second, John has to describe a "Crone" to her respective "husband" (an exceedingly old man who most of the Club despise). During this part of the game, John can see his descriptions beginning to alter reality (or at least his perceptions of it). After this effect wears off, John and Septimus engage in the third part of the game - the acting-out of a dramatic entertainment. Despite some confusion between the two (for John thinks that he is acting out the tale of Perseus while Septimus is acting out the tale of Theseus), they win the game. John is sent upstairs to receive his prize - which is revealed to be Juliette (or at least, someone he thinks is Juliette). On seeing "Juliette", John faints and has to be carried outside by Septimus. In a mirror of his first meeting with John, the Earl tries to ask John about the document but fails to get anything from the exceedingly drunk John. Septimus carries John through the streets as a rainstorm begins.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, they are being watched by Nazim. He quickly loses track of them and turns back to his surveillance of the Vendragon. From this, he learns that a mysterious figure known as "Mizzer Le Mara" (an assassin with ties to a mysterious group of nine men only known as the Nine who ripped off the Nawab). While thinking about his mission, Nazim is interrupted by the arrival of two women from the Pork Club. They talk about their losses in the "game" (which was set up by a mysterious figure) that John (whose family had ties with the Nine) won and agree to meet with the figure the next morning. That morning, Nazim tails the two girls and discovers that the mysterious figure was none other than Le Mara.

While the rainstorm passes by, John talks about everything that has happened to him - including his encounters with mythical creatures. The next day, Septimus (who believes that John is at least somewhat crazy) brings him to two psychiatrist friends of his. One of these friends diagnoses John with "projective-objective palilexic echopraxia" and prescribes distracting John by making him write a work on classicism. As such, everyone in the room goes through every possible type of book known to them before settling on the model of Dr. Samuel Johnson's dictionary.

While within their meeting point underneath London, Casterleigh and Le Mara discuss having Nazim killed. The leader of the Nine refuses to allow this. Soon, they are joined by Boffe (a French member of the Nine) and discuss John's activities (showing they know about his dictionary) and plan to "plant a second demon" in him in two weeks' time - Christmas Eve.

As Christmas Eve approaches, Septimus sets up John with a bookseller along with various other figures (including a rival and a paper dealer) while he sets up for a Christmas ball hosted by the Earl. As John works on his dictionary, he begins to piece together a web of mythological names centering on Danae. Shortly after this, John (along with Septimus and several other members of the Pork Club) attend the ball. While there, John gets separated from the rest of the Pork Club and watches a demonstration of an automaton with the ability to write and draw. The automaton sketches out an image of the Vendragon before accidentally maiming a member of the audience and being destroyed. After the demonstration, the Earl finds John and brings him to his mother. The Earl's mother talks about the Nine (though she does not name them) and reveals their backstory.

While the East India Company was still being formed, a group of nine merchants banded together in the town of La Rochelle. They sent forth several ships to find a passage to the East. These ships returned filled with a cargo of pepper in a time when the market for pepper had been flooded. As such, at least Thomas de Vere was ruined and forced to sell his share in the East India Company to a member of the Lemprière family. After this, the merchants continued to group in La Rochelle until the siege of the city. It was shortly after this siege that De Vere encountered an extremely manic François Lemprière for the last time.

After telling this story and revealing documents written by a mysterious Company-hater known only as "Asiaticus", Lady de Vere reveals that she intends to use John as proof of the De Vere's claim to the fortunes of the East India Company. John is hesitant to go through with this (believing that the Company will outright refuse to accept their agreement). This leads Lady de Vere to burn the de Vere's copy of the document before calming down. John then leaves Lady de Vere's room and becomes lost in the mansion. He soon finds a trapdoor in a basement and clambers up it before being knocked out by an unknown figure. Unbeknownst to John and Lady de Vere, Boffe and the Viscount Casterleigh were watching him talk with Lady de Vere.

While John was talking with Lady de Vere, the member of the audience who recognized the Vendragon (the retired Captain Guardian) thinks over where he first saw the image of the ship. When looking at his mangled hand, he realizes that the true name of the ship has been written on it. This name is revealed to be the Falmouth - a ship that Guardian has been searching for over several years. Shortly after coming to this realization, he hears someone using a nearby trapdoor and attacks them. It is revealed that Captain Guardian was the one that (accidentally) attacked John. The two are soon acquainted (although Captain Guardian had met John's father before his death and is disappointed to learn that he is dead). The two agree to meet at the front of the house but John gets lost due to the labyrinthine nature of the house and finds himself locked outside.

John decides to walk around the house until he reaches the front. While doing so, he gets lost and ends up in a nearby bog where he witnesses a woman being killed by having molten gold poured down her throat. While fleeing from this sight, he finds Juliette (or a woman resembling her) riding in a carriage. Soon the body of the dead woman is found by the search parties looking for John. It is soon brought to the attention of the famous blind Sir John Fielding of the Bow Street Runners. Fielding (along with his coroner) examine the body and decide to hide the matter for the time being to avoid panic.

Paris[]

Shortly after the ball, Juliette travels back to her homeland of France with a member of the Cabbala named Jaques. For nine weeks, their time in Paris is extremely unassuming until they notice figures following them. Soon, the two are brought into a carriage with the mysterious figures. While the carriage travels through the streets of Paris, Juliette thinks back to her childhood. The daughter of a prostitute, Juliette did not know the identity of her father. She was found by the Viscount and "adopted" by him (though he stated that he was most definitely not her father). Soon, the carriage stops and Jaques meets with a representative of the Conseil aux Conseils (a mysterious group with ties to the French Revolution) named only "the Cardinal". The Cardinal and Jaques discuss the upcoming Revolution and the debts of France (which the Cabbala offers to take completely). They also discuss sending gold to the Conseil by boat (which is revealed to be the Vendragon by Jaques as he leaves). After leaving, Jaques thinks back to an encounter with one of the Nawab's assassins (presumably Nazim's uncle) with Charles. Jaques and Charles escaped the assassin by hiding in a bordello - which led to the assassin's capture and the birth of Juliette (who is John's half-sister). In one final flashback, Juliette remembers seeing her half-brother wandering in the wilderness after discovering the dead woman.

Once the carriage used by the Viscount and Juliette departs, John is discovered by the Pork Club and brought into their carriage before he dies of hypothermia. Once he has somewhat recovered, John writes the entry for Danae. Several days later (on New Year's Eve), as John works through the "D"s, he decides to visit Skewer (realizing that the lawyer most likely is the one who told Alice de Vere about his existence). While visiting Skewer's office, he runs into an enraged Widow whom he first saw on his first visit to Skewer's office. While talking to the Widow, John becomes curious that she might know more about the mysterious events that have shaped his life and begins to follow her. Soon, the two begin talking (with the Widow revealing her husband (a sea-captain named Alan Neagle) found a mysterious passage in the Mediterranean when a voyage was interrupted by whales) but they are interrupted by a riot seemingly caused by a rabble-rouser named Farina. During the riot, John is narrowly saved from death by a mysterious stranger and follows the Widow Neagle to her house. Once at the Widow's house, she reveals the rest of the story. Alan attempted to mount an expedition to find his mysterious passage and left behind papers documenting everything with Peppard. Presumably during this expedition, Adam was killed (possibly by agents of the East India Company wishing to keep their monopoly on sea travel). Peppard and the Widow Neagle attempted to launch a case against the Company but were ruined due to it. Once this tale ends, the Widow offers to give John a wealth of information once he finds out more about the mystery. She then introduces John to a group of professors playing a game known as "Jump or Die" (a game based on the Siege of La Rochelle and a mysterious figure who survived the Siege by seemingly flying out using massive wings).

Presumably before the ball, Nazim watches over Le Mara. As he watches over the Cabbala assassin, Nazim thinks over "the Lemprière" and breaks into a house which the assassin was using as a base (which he finds to be "nothing more than a gateway"). Soon, New Year's Eve arrives. While Nazim follows Le Mara, the man brings him to a speech being given by Farina and starts a riot by claiming that Nazim is an "Indian spy". During this riot, Nazim unknowingly saves "the Lemprière" from being killed. Soon, Nazim catches up with Le Mara and discovers that the assassin is watching over a short man. While watching over the watchman, Nazim watches as the short man meets with a man wearing eyeglasses.

As John works at the "E"s, writers' block begins to take hold in him. As such, he decides to visit Peppard and learn more about the Widow's tale. On meeting with Peppard, he backs up most of it but reveals that Captain Neagle did not see whales. Instead, he saw a ship called the Sophie which was thought to be sunk. He also reveals that Captain Neagle's ship was the Falmouth, which John remembers is moored outside of Captain Guardian's house. On hearing of this, Peppard sets up a meeting with a mysterious figure named "Theobald". After John leaves, Peppard is visited and killed by Le Mara. His corpse is found by Nazim (who assumes that Peppard is "the Lemprière" after finding a pendant left behind by John.

Several days later, John attends the meeting with "Theobald" but finds that Peppard is late. While looking for him, he finds a mysterious figure (which is Nazim) which he thinks is Theobald before the real Theobald - the estranged brother of Peppard who works at the East India Company as an archivist. John is able to convince Theobald to visit his brother's house. While there, the two find Sir John Fielding examining the corpse of Theobald's brother. Thinking that Lemprière's tale of sunken ships is completely preposterous, Theobald begins an argument with him that ends with the two splitting. On returning home, John roots through his father's chest and discovers a letter detailing his brief stay at the bordello alongside various letters to Captain Guardian about harbors in France.

John decides to visit Captain Guardian at his house to find out more about the Falmouth/Vendragon and his father's letters. At first, John speaks with Guardian about harbors. Guardian pulls out a book of naval charts and John soon notices a chart of La Rochelle. The two soon begin talking about the harbor of La Rochelle and Charles Lemprière's letters. Soon, John notices the "tattoo" on Guardian's hand and begins talking about the death of Peppard and the Falmouth - which the two watch from above. Initially, John wants to sneak onto the Falmouth but Guardian convinces him not to do it. Instead, the two watch as the crew of the Falmouth load a cargo of statues into the ship's berth. Before John leaves, Guardian offers to inform him when the Falmouth disembarks.

While waiting for a meeting of the Cabbala, Vaucanson thinks over his cybernetic work - augmenting the body of Nazim's uncle Bahadur with pseudo-robotic technology (making him into a broken being) and "editing" the brains of the Viscount's dogs to make them into extremely efficient killing machines to hunt down and kill Charles Lemprière. Soon, the Cabbala assembles within their base underneath London. Now that Jaques has returned from Paris, he reveals that their deal with the Conseil aux Conseils has gone through. Next, Casterleigh reveals that John has discovered the Falmouth and "the Manufactory". Shortly after this, the meeting ends. While still within the Cabbala's underground meeting-place, Vaucanson, Le Mara, and Casterleigh make a mysterious pact.

The next day, after Septimus gathers up John's recent work on the dictionary (which now stops at "Iphigenia"), the two talk about the Coade Manufactory. This building (whose main project, the mysterious "Coade Stone", was briefly mentioned by Captain Guardian) seemingly has ties to the De Veres. During this talk, John reveals the death of Peppard and the mysterious plot linked to the Company. Shortly after this talk, John decides to break into the Manufactory. Once inside, John is forced to hide under a mold for a stone turtle in a room full of statues after hearing someone pass through. As this mysterious figure draws closer, John can hear who he assumes to be Juliette walking around the room while the statues seemingly come to life. Once this passes, John leaves his hiding spot and discovers the carcass of a goat with the corpse of a woman whom he also assumes to be Juliette nestled inside of it. During all of this, John was unknowingly watched over by Nazim (who thinks that John is a "pseudo-Lemprière", an apprentice to "the Lemprière"). It is revealed that the dead woman was presumably a doppelganger of Juliette. After making the discovery, John flees and is found and helped by a mysterious black garbed figure whom Nazim watched breaking into Le Mara's base.

A few days later, the body of the young woman is found in the river. Though Fielding attempts to suppress news of the corpse (wishing to stop Farina from stirring up mass panic), one newspaper prints a short story on the corpse. Initially, John thinks that it is the real Juliette but is corrected by Septimus (as Juliette was seen with the Viscount at a concert). Soon, John begins to work on his dictionary again with an aimless feverish pace. Septimus and a woman named Lydia from the Pork Club (presumably worried about the all-consuming nature of the work) try to set up excursions for John but he largely ignores them.

As an Ottoman ship called the Tesrifati crosses the seas with the "Imperial Internuncio to the Sublime Porte" in a crate within its bowels and the King of France begins to notice his orange trees and parliament disarranging around him, an ill and violent wind spreads over the dockyards. After one Captain Roy is attacked by hooligans (possibly the criminals hired by Le Mara), Captain Guardian lets the legless captain stay with him. The two decide to watch a performance by "the Stone-Eater" and meet John and Septimus (whose face Guardian remembers from Jersey, though it is presumably one of Septimus' relatives) in the audience. During the performance, John gives the Stone-Eater a small fragment of Coade Stone (which he grabbed during the break-in at the Manufactory) to swallow just before chaos ensues as the Bow Street Runners enter the theater to arrest four of Farina's men.

As the Tesrifati drifts into a cloud of mist, another ship emerges behind them and attacks. Though the Tesrifati fires on the ship, it is boarded and its cargo is stolen. Once the Imperial Internuncio is onboard the other ship and released from his crate, he is welcomed on board the Heart of Light. This is the flagship of the Pantisocratic Pirates (a group of elderly men who first became pirates while trying to escape perpetual imprisonment in England). After being welcomed aboard, the Pirates talk with the Internuncio about various mysterious ships they have spotted in their travels. Meanwhile, the agents of the Cardinal travel to La Rochelle after investigating and proving the existence of the Cabbala. While in La Rochelle, they discover how the nine men fled the city during the siege - a secret underground channel leading to a lake.

In England, the Viscount and Le Mara hire the failing Haymarket Opera House for a mysterious event. Around the same time, John Fielding begins to become aware of the presence of Lemprière from various witnesses. This includes the Crone whom Lemprière met at the first meeting of the Pork Club and Theobald (who tries to claim that Lemprière was a blackmailer and possibly murdered his brother). Meanwhile, John Lemprière's dictionary nears completion. While working on the entry for Xenodice and being visited by Septimus, John is visited by the three scientists whom he met during his meeting with the Widow. The two initially claim that they have found infallible evidence of the Sprite of La Rochelle but soon reveal that they only came to get John to comfort the extremely depressed Widow Neagle. John visits the Widow but finds that there is little he can do.

As the Heart of Light pursues a ship known as the Megaera, it passes by the waters of La Rochelle and (due to its seaweed-encrusted hull) collects a large colony of algae. Upon seeing this, a member of the crew known as Wilberforce van Clam begins a "Pantisocratic Diet of Light" (essentially a meeting of the entire crew to vote on a major proposal) and proposes an all-out final assault on the Megaera in London. Over time, Wilberforce is able to convince the crew.

As the Heart of Light approaches London, an event known as the Dispute enfolds on the city. The owner of the Haymarket Opera House installs stone turtles into his opera house in a secret party. Captain Guardian and Roy (who had been invited to the event during an extremely bad evening at the Opera House) miss the event. They also miss the funeral of Lady de Vere (who died while looking over a drainage project in the bog near the family estate). The only people in attendance of the funeral are John and the Earl. After the funeral, John returns to working on his dictionary and (after eight months of working on it) finally finishes it. While still thinking about the dictionary, John is interrupted by Theobald visiting him. He reveals that he has found evidence proving his brother's theories and brings John to the East India House - specifically the Archive, a room stacked from floor to ceiling with every single piece of correspondence belonging to the Company. While there, Theobald reveals the blank final manifest of Captain Neagle's ship before they are interrupted by the arrival of the Viscount alongside Juliette (who calls out the word "tomorrow" to John) and Le Mara. John and Theobald hide from them and (as the Viscount and his company retreats) look through the various extra storerooms. While there, John finds by sheer chance the fourth and final pamphlet of Asiaticus.

While looking over the fourth and final pamphlet, John finds little information on the Company's plans. The next day, while thinking about Juliette, John is visited by Septimus. At first, Septimus talks about the entries but soon begins talking about a tailor that John has visited. John angrily bursts into the "tailor"'s room and realizes that the man is actually copying his own dictionary. This was done by Septimus to produce extra copies of the dictionary. Before John can return to Septimus, he finds Juliette outside. The two talk (with Juliette revealing that the Viscount is not her father and telling John to flee London immediately) before retiring to bed. While John is asleep, Juliette slips out of his embrace. John follows Juliette through the streets of London before arriving at the Haymarket Opera House - which is filled with a very rowdy performance of a battle in the Trojan War. Though John briefly loses sight of Juliette, he follows her onto the roof of the Theatre. Lurking here is the Viscount, who reveals that he plans to murder John for his share of the Company by either stabbing him or throwing him off the roof. Before the Viscount can do any of this, he is stopped by an unseen force. John falls off the roof but survives and is resuscitated by Septimus. The two flee a Farina mob. Once back in his room with Septimus, John tries to interrogate Septimus (who has been acting strangely ever since the visit to the Stone-Eater where he was scared by a small fire) but is soon distracted once he realizes the true message of Asiaticus (or François Lemprière) is actually watermarked with the mysterious broken-circle symbol. He realizes that it has to do with the Siege of La Rochelle but is knocked unconscious by Septimus before he can remember the name of the city.

Rochelle[]

As an anticyclone approaches Europe, John wakes in the Cabbala's subterranean labyrinth. He is found by Jaques (whom he recognizes as a friend of his father) and discovers the body of his ancestor François. Unbeknownst to both of them, Nazim has also entered into "the Beast". While wandering around in the tunnels, Nazim accidentally weakens the barrier keeping the Thames River from flooding the Beast.

Jaques brings John to a candle-lit chamber deep within the Beast where the eight members of the Cabbala have assembled around a table. On the table is a copy of John's dictionary. The leader (Zamorin) introduces John to the Cabbala and (with the other members of the Cabbala) discuss the history of their organization.

Originally, the Cabbala were simply nine merchants based in La Rochelle who gained stock in the recently-established East India Company. Over several years (while François was away and had left his family behind in the city of La Rochelle), the Nine amassed vast sums of wealth until the city was besieged by the forces of the French king and Cardinal Richelieu. These forces cut off the citizens of Rochelle from the rest of the world - leaving them to slowly to death. Before this could happen, the Cabbala fooled the citizens of La Rochelle into committing mass suicide and fled the city using a series of underground tunnels. Upon discovering that his entire family had died in this event, François turned against his former business partners but was eliminated before his pamphlets could do any damage. The Cabbala descended into the tunnels of "the Beast" and became a secretive driving force in the Company. They began using various stolen and secret ships for their own purposes.

After revealing this backstory, Zamorin reveals that the Cabbala have been monitoring John's dictionary and can use it to tie him to the various murders they have committed. He gives John a choice - become a member of the Cabbala or be executed by Sir John and his Bow Street Runners. Before John can choose, Le Mara stabs Jaques while the Viscount attacks John. John simply blows out the candles lighting the room and flees the Viscount with Juliette. While the two run down the corridors with the Viscount at their heels, they briefly sight Nazim before the barrier fails and the waters of the Thames rush into the Beast.

As the Thames floods the Beast, the Pantisocratic Pirates reach the Megaera just in time to watch as a whirlpool opens and sucks the Megaera (along with another ship known as the Tisiphone and the former Alecto into its depths). Most of the crew escapes just as the Vendragon arrives and a group of Farina's mob finds them. While beginning to bleed out from his knife wound, Jaques watches as a mysterious baby-faced figure enters the chamber. This figure argues with Zamorin before using the cargoes of the destroyed ships to ignite the chamber.

Around this time, John and Juliette reach the ladder for the East India House. As they climb, they are chased by the Viscount. Before he can reach them, his prey reaches the top of the ladder. Juliette seals the opening and leaves her "father" to drown before leaving John. While Juliette leaves John behind, he wanders the streets and runs into a crowd of Farina's revolutionaries just in time to watch them overtake Sir John Fielding after his assembled armies flee and the explosion set off in the Beast causes the streets to shake. While Farina's mob marches through the streets, Nazim and Le Mara duel in one of the underground tunnels. They escape the explosion by climbing a ladder leading to the Haymarket Opera House and take their duel onto the roof. While on the roof, Nazim is able to stab Le Mara in the mouth but is stabbed in the stomach by his adversary. Despite this, Nazim is able to force the pendant of John's mother down Le Mara's throat. Farina's mob arrives just in time to watch as Le Mara falls off the roof (revealing as he falls that he was augmented by Vaucanson) alongside one of the stone tortoises. Le Mara is shortly followed by Nazim - who sights John and realizes that he is the real Lemprière right before he dies.

Using the stone tortoise, Farina's mob breaks into the Opera House and briefly begins a battle with the rich patrons (and Sir John's coward armies) assembled within before the Opera House begins to burn. While in the Opera House, John is reunited with Juliette. He discovers that Juliette is despondent and refuses to leave the Opera House. On asking why, Juliette reveals that she is John's sister. Seemingly due to the shock of this, John lets himself be arrested. He is found by Sir John Fielding (who managed to survive the riots due to the help of his guide boy) and attempts to confess to the murders. Sir John refuses to listen to him and reveals that Septimus vouched for him.

As the Opera House burns, Captains Ebeneezer and Roy (joined by Rathkael-Herbert and Wilberforce van Clam) take command of the Vendragon. They discover the missing Captain Neagle - augmented into a husk by Vaucanson - and bring the ship to La Rochelle. They are found by Duluc and Protagoras (who assume that they were sent by Jaques) and unload the cargo of the Vendragon. Initially, it appears that the cargo is nothing more than statues until they are hacked to pieces - revealing them to hold the gold that the Cabbala planned to give to the Revolution.

As Septimus sits within a pacquet known as the Vineeta, he is joined by John and Juliette. While John was being arrested, Septimus found Juliette and revealed that she was not the daughter of Charles Lemprière. During the night in Paris, Charles could not complete "the deed" and Jaques "satiated" Juliette's mother - conceiving the future "Casterleigh". Due to this, John and Juliette have reunited and decided to join Septimus on the Vineeta.

Continuity[]

Thomas Pynchon[]

Note: A lot of this is from Amy J. Elias' essay "The Pynchon Intertext of Lemprière's Dictionary". Not sure how to add symbolic references (such as comparisons between Pynchon's and Norfolk's writing style). Perhaps those should go into the "Writing Style" section of Norfolk's page.

Mister O'Tristero is presumably a reference to Tristero (the founder of W.A.S.T.E. from The Crying of Lot 49) though he vaguely resembles the only known photos of Thomas Pynchon.
Briefly, the real-world Thurn and Taxis postal service is referenced. This service was a major part of Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.
The Pantisocratic Pirates are possibly a reference to Pirate Prentice from Gravity's Rainbow.
The revolutionary Farina's name is possibly a reference to author Richard Fariña, whom Pynchon was friends with before his tragic death in 1966.

rest to be added

Gallery[]

Sources[]

Goodreads

Title	Author	Release date	Signifigance
The Adventuress of Henrietta Street	Lawrence Miles	2001	A postmodernist historical novel set around the same time as Dictionary
Mason & Dixon	Thomas Pynchon	1997	A postmodernist historical novel set around the same time as Dictionary
Quicksilver	Neal Stephenson	2003	A postmodernist historical novel set around the same time as Dictionary
Bibliotheca Classica	John Lemprière	1788	The real-world Dictionary
Christmas on a Rational Planet	Lawrence Miles	1996	A postmodernist historical novel set around the same time as Dictionary
A Maggot	John Fowles	1985	A postmodernist historical novel featuring somewhat similar themes and set at the beginning of the 18th century
Perfume	Patrick Süskind	1985	A historical novel set around the same time as Dictionary
The Name of the Rose	Umberto Eco	1980	The cover of the Harmony Books hardback of Dictionary compared it to The Name of the Rose
The Arm and the Darkness	Taylor Caldwell	1943	A historical novel set during the Siege of La Rochelle
Heat and Dust	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala	1975	A novel with a Nawab as a major character